Combat Fleets

The Royal Australian Navy's last conventional steam-driven warship, the River-class frigate Torrens , was decommissioned on 1 September 1998; she is seen here during a final visit to Sydney in July. Only two nations now are building fossil-fueled steamships: the United States, with the Wasp (LHD-1) class, and Russia, which is trying to complete two Sovremennyy -class guided missile destroyers for China—although the Russian press has reported the latter program in jeopardy because of a lack of funds to pay yard workers. Six 1980 to 1993-completed Australian variants of the Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG-7)-class guided missile frigate are to be updated between 2001 and 2005 with an 8-cell Mk 41 vertical missile launch group, upgraded weapons control systems, the LINK 16 data-link system, and new AN/UYK-70 displays under a $636 million contract to be finalized next March with Australian Defense Industries (ADI).

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